Well, still in Kuwait.  Absolutely no flights to Bagram- we're trying again for Kandahar. SSG Burns, another one of the chaplain assistants traveling with me, told me yesterday to be positive.  I replied that I was positive that we were not getting out of here any time soon.  Believe it or not, the 3 chaplain assistants and one other NCO who are in our little group never moved into a tent.  They're young, and find sleeping in the comfy chairs at the APOD easier than moving all their stuff.  They just take turns watching our pile of stuff.
       Some nice interactions here.  One of the COL's who befriended me at the CRC sat with me at breakfast and we had that basic conversation about God and evil and free will.  He is not Jewish, but intellectually/religiously curious.  He had actually brought up to me in GA that he was interested in learning more about Maimonides, so you can imagine how that piqued my interest!
     Also had a nice chat last night with my Australian buddy. Too tired to recall if I mentioned that the Australian chaplains are officially addressed as "Padre".  I thought that was pretty cool.  Begged the question of female chaplains- I asked about "Madre", he said it stands unresolved.  Someone suggested "Madress", but that totally doesn't work for me!
   I heard a bit of his sermon last night- surprised that he chose a somewhat obscure text from Genesis 15.  When we spoke about it afterwards he gave me a big analysis of conditional and unconditional covenants, based on the Greek words in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.  I wasn't quite sure how you could draw deep conclusions from a translation, but it's nice to know that he even looks at Genesis.
   His unit is doing logistical support, so we also discussed the importance of mail.  I quoted I.B. Singer to him- "In hell, people sit on beds of nails and wait for mail."  He had already used the term
"hullabaloo" in a previous context, and he described the loss of mail as potentially an "almighty hullabaloo".  Not an expression one hears too often.
   I was reminded when I was in a briefing in Germany re: supporting the frontline mission, and I was impressed that the #1 priority for supply was mail- before water, food or ammo.  Really speaks to the fundamental importance of the human connection.
   Which is important for me too, which is why I reach out to y'all in these email updates.  Thanks for listening.  HOPING my next note will be from Afghanistan